Unconstrained Design Not Cost Arbitrage

“For Dell, ever focused on efficiency, China’s advantages were all about cost and scale—that is to say, they were about *margin*. But Apple looked at the armies of affordable, available labor and saw a different potential: *unconstrained design*. Or to put it differently: Western PC companies were shifting to China because of what was *available*; Apple shifted because of what was *possible*.”

“what Apple was realizing was that thousands of laborers cheaply handcrafting Apple hardware on a conveyor-belt production line allowed its designs to be maddeningly intricate, complex, and automation-unfriendly.”